These 5 fetish American products which are actually manufactured in Europe – Liberation
American consumers had understood that the price of some of their favorite products risked soar Following customs duties imposed by Donald Trump: so, iPhones are largely manufactured in China and Nike shoes are imported from Vietnam. But on the eve of the entry into force of these new import taxesthey discover with amazement that the equally emblematic US products are actually made in Europe and may increase by 20 %. Overview of these best-selling products in the United States:
Difficult to find a more American look than that of Tom Cruise in Top Gun, No doubt also thanks to his Ray-Ban sunglasses. The brand was born in 1937 with the release of the Aviator model created specially for the US Air Force pilots. In 1952, Ray-Ban launched the Wayfarer, a black model, which broke with the traditional metal frames, and which Ray Charles contributed to making famous. Then, all the politicians will engage by going from their favorite model, from Malcolm X to Joe Biden via Ronald Reagan.
And yet, most of the Ray-Ban glasses are actually made in a small mountain village of Italian dolomites before being shipped to the United States. Indeed Ray-Ban, as well as other popular American brands such as Oliver Peoples and Vogue Eyewear, belongs to the Franco-Italian giant of Essilorluxottica, the largest company in the sector. In 2024, its sales to North America amounted to almost 12 billion euros.
All these models will now be subject to a customs tariff of 20 %.
In any case, the price of coffee is likely to explode in the United States because of customs duties on African countries, but one of the flagship products of its consumption across the Atlantic may be doubly penalized: Espresso Starbucks capsules. Proudly displaying the green logo of the company located in Seattle, the capsules are actually made in three Nestlé factories in Switzerland. However, Swiss imports to the United States are now subject to a customs rate of 31 % (much higher therefore than for the European Union).
This is a product that is impossible to relocate to the United States, as it actually only has American logo. Starbucks capsules are only disguised Nespresso capsules, of which Nestlé sells more than 14 billion per year.
Made famous by many American TV series, the medical bed, with its possibilities of elevation, recovery and mobility on casters, which is for example at the center of the assassination of Frank Underwood in the series House of Cards, was patented by the University of Indiana in 1909. But an important supplier of these high-tech beds is the Linet Group, based in the Czech Republic, of which this is one of the flagship products. According to the Bloomberg agency, the Czech company has already said that for its future contracts with American customers, it will have to increase its prices, which could have unfortunate consequences in a country where the cost of medical care is already very controversial. Exports to the United States represent approximately 20 % of the group’s annual turnover, up to 370 million euros.
If the vast majority of Barbie dolls are manufactured by Mattel in Asia, their patriotic sister American Girl, bought by Mattel following its growing success in the 1990s, does everything to proudly display its American origins. Only here, these dolls which retrace the history of the United States, between pioneers of the Far West and astronauts from Florida, were never produced in America. Most of them, including popular Disney license models and historic models at more than 100 euros parts, are manufactured in Germany by the company Götz PuppenManufaktur.
Mattel has launched a series of TV productions to strengthen the American image of its line, and a film is already in production at Paramount. It is therefore certainly not the time to draw attention to the European origin of these dolls.
Although none of the European pharmaceutical products imported to the United States has been submitted for the moment to customs duties, many of the actors in place remain convinced that this exemption is only temporary, Emmanuel Macron in mind. Americans could therefore soon have to pay more for their favorite anti -wrinkle injections.
If the aesthetic use of botulinum toxin is an American development, which since the 1990s has made it a real social phenomenon in the United States, the molecule has mainly made the fortune of the Allergan laboratory, which markets Botox. But since its acquisition by the Biotechnology company Abbvie, all the production marketed under the name of Botox has been relocated in the city of Westport, on the west coast of Ireland.
Manufacturing is done in a highly secure factory, Botox being derived from one of the most toxic substances in the world, and would therefore be very difficult to relocate to the United States. Any price increase due to potential customs duties will directly strike consumers, because Botox for aesthetic purposes is not covered by health insurance. Abbvie said that he had carried out nearly $ 1.7 billion in aesthetic Botox sales in 2024, for the vast majority in the United States.
